1 files changed, 4 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/rest_framework/utils/formatting.py b/rest_framework/utils/formatting.py
index 6d53aed1..470af51b 100644
--- a/rest_framework/utils/formatting.py
+++ b/rest_framework/utils/formatting.py
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@
 Utility functions to return a formatted name and description for a given view.
 """
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
+import re
 
 from django.utils.html import escape
 from django.utils.safestring import mark_safe
-from rest_framework.compat import apply_markdown
-import re
+
+from rest_framework.compat import apply_markdown, force_text
 
 
 def remove_trailing_string(content, trailing):
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ def dedent(content):
     as it fails to dedent multiline docstrings that include
     unindented text on the initial line.
     """
+    content = force_text(content)
     whitespace_counts = [len(line) - len(line.lstrip(' '))
                          for line in content.splitlines()[1:] if line.lstrip()]